Writing Numbers

Deciding whether to write numbers as numerals or as number words is a matter of style. The style for a literary publication may differ from the style for a journalistic publication. The key in all cases is to use a consistent style throughout your writing.

Many publishers of literary works, such as literary journals and fiction books, prefer that you spell out all numbers less than 101, then switch to numerals for 101 and above. In contrast, most newspapers, scientific journals, and popular presses in the United States prefer that you spell out all numbers less than 10, then switch to numerals for 10 and above. For all types of publications, if you use a numeral for one element of a category within a paragraph, you should use a numeral for all other elements of that category within that paragraph.

On its website, the highly regarded Chicago Manual of Style recommends “consistency ‘in the immediate context,’ which you might call ‘within eyeshot’—that is, anywhere you think a reader might be distracted by the inconsistency.” For instance, you might write the following: “We published 10 novels last year, 1 of which included 99 chapters.”

There is no global right or wrong, other than to be consistent within your own writing. If you’re using numerals for 10 and above, stick to that throughout your writing. If you’re choosing numerals just for 101 and above, spell out all smaller numbers throughout your writing.

For more tips on how to treat numbers in writing, see our English Rules web page, Writing Numbers.

Pop Quiz
Assume you are following the rules adhered to by popular presses in the United States.

1A. I needed only five copies of the test, not 50.
1B. I needed only five copies of the test, not fifty.
1C. I needed only 5 copies of the test, not 50.
1D. I needed only 5 copies of the test, not fifty.

2A. Please give Arthur four pencils with erasers and 15 blank sheets of paper to complete the assignment.
2B. Please give Arthur four pencils with erasers and fifteen blank sheets of paper to complete the assignment.
2C. Please give Arthur 4 pencils with erasers and 15 blank sheets of paper to complete the assignment.
2D. Please give Arthur 4 pencils with erasers and fifteen blank sheets of paper to complete the assignment.

3A. We will need three pies to feed 12 students and twelve pies to feed 50 students.
3B. We will need three pies to feed twelve students and twelve pies to feed fifty students.
3C. We will need 3 pies to feed 12 students and 12 pies to feed 50 students.
3D. We will need 3 pies to feed twelve students and 12 pies to feed fifty students.

Answers

1B. I only needed five copies of the test, not fifty.
Since the number five comes first, we follow the standard format of writing out numbers less than 10. Since both numbers are representing copies, to be consistent, we should write out both numbers.

2A. Please give Arthur four pencils with erasers and 15 blank sheets of paper to complete the assignment.
Since the number four comes first, we follow the standard format of writing out numbers less than 10. Since the second number represents sheets of paper, not pencils, we should use numerals as it is 10 or above.

3A. We will need three pies to feed 15 students and twelve pies to feed 60 students.
Since the number three comes first, we follow the standard format of writing out numbers less than 10. Since three represents pies, we will also write out twelve since it, too, represents pies. Since the number of students is above nine, we will use digits to represent 15 and 60.

Posted on Saturday, April 14, 2007, at 4:33 am

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No “and” except to replace a decimal point.
123 = one hundred twenty-three (Do use the hyphen for all compound numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine.)
23.45 = twenty-three and forty-five hundredths

If “years old” are not mentioned in a sentence, would that then mean that ages should be written using the “default” number writing rules of spelling out ages under 10, or should the age be expressed as a numeral regardless?

Ex:
She’s four and hasn’t started first grade. (And, whoops — 1st or first?)
-or-
She’s 4 and hasn’t started first grade.

Thanks in advance. This has proven an *awesome* resource for myself and my transcribers.

You can use either a numeral or a word to express ages under 10. Some resources prefer the word spelled out: She’s four and hasn’t started first grade.
Yes, “first” is preferred over “1st” but it’s not a big deal.

1. Patients scored the pain levels 24, 48, 72, and 120 hours after using the tab. (I advise using the comma before “and” in a series to avoid any confusion: Commas, Rule 1)
2. “48-72 hours before” is correct If you mean continuously over that period of time. “48 and 72 hours before” is correct if you mean only at those two points in time.
3. She returned at 2400 hours yesterday. (That would be correct for military time, if you’re stating what time she returned.) or
She returned after 24 hours. (If you are stating how long it was before she returned.)

I have a question about the singular/ plural use in age.
Isn’t it common to say, “She is one years old” ?
But is this correct? Would you pluralize the age of one
just as we singularize,”My ten-year-old” ?

The use of a decimal number seems awkward in this sentence. It would seem more natural to use fractions when speaking of ages. Also, in the phrase “A group of 7 1/2- to 12-year-old children,” the hyphenated phrasal adjective “7 1/2- to 12-year-old” seems to be slightly confusing to the reader. According to The Chicago Manual of Style 5.91, “If a phrasal adjective becomes awkward, the sentence should probably be recast.” I would, therefore, reword to say, “A group of children ranging in ages from 7 1/2 to 12 years old.”

Not all authorities agree on the rules. The Chicago Manual of Style (9.2) advises spelling out whole numbers from zero through one hundred. The use of numerals above 10 is not exclusive to APA. The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual (12.4) states, “A figure is used for a single number of 10 or more with the exception of the first word of the sentence.”

In our blog post titled “Numbers as Adjectives” the rule says, “Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea. This rule can also be applied when a number and a measurement unit taken together form an adjective, that is, when they describe another object.” Therefore, fifteen-year marriage would be correct.

First, thank you for having such a great online resource. I’ve found myself coming to your site often and just ordered your book off Amazon. I have come to you today with a couple of questions until your book arrives. I have 2 passages in my writing, in which I am questioning how I refer to a character’s age. They read as follow:

Passage 1
Cara, 12, sat motionless in her seat belt, her blonde hair washing over her lifeless face in the icy water. Lori, 7, was out of her seatbelt and pressed against the ceiling.

Passage 2
Marilyn’s eyes darted to 5-year-old Katelyn who was strapped into her car seat in the middle.

Given that (12) is not a single digit, the rules seem to dictate that it needs to be spelled out, but I’m not sure since in the very next line I refer to another child at age (7), which follows a rule to use a numeral for a single digit. Are these correct the way I have then? Or do I need to spell out (12), (7) and (5). Also is the punctuation correct? Character name (comma) age (comma) rest of sentence.

Associated Press style says to use numerals for all ages. Chicago style says to write all ages out as words. It’s your call. Setting the characters’ ages off in commas is consistent with Rule 11 of “Commas” since giving the characters’ names sufficiently identifies them. Good luck with your writing; sounds like you’re dealing with a tragic event.

Silly note but fun. I went back to Amazon and found your book on Kindle so i canceled my purchase for the hard copy and ordered the Kindle version. Its great I’m paging through it on my PC version of Kindle. Thanks. I look forward to your response.

The phrase “up to” indicates a limit or boundary. Most likely it would only include age 13 if it said, “up to and including age 13.” It can, however, be ambiguous and open to interpretation, so it may be best to inquire specifically

After reading through all your eye-opening responses to inquiries about “Writing Numbers”, I’m still left with a question which has been of much debate at my workplace, so I decided to submit it.
Which is/are correct:
“He’s willing to pay eleven five for the car”
“He’s willing to pay eleven, five for the car”
“He’s willing to pay 11 – 5 for the car”
“He’s willing to pay 11, 5 for the car”

Uh, oh, looks like I’m under pressure to be insightful in my explanation.
If you were writing this out formally, you would write either:
“He’s willing to pay $11,500 for the car.” OR
“He’s willing to pay eleven thousand five hundred dollars for the car.”

As for your informal, but commonly spoken, way of expressing the dollar figure, we feel that either of the following would be acceptable:
“He’s willing to pay eleven-five for the car.” OR
“He’s willing to pay eleven five for the car.”

The rule in our blog “Writing Numbers as Adjectives” says, “Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea. When measurements are not acting as adjectives, hyphens are not needed.” Since four feet six inches is not in front of a noun, you do not need to hyphenate.

The style manuals do not seem to agree on words vs. numbers in regard to monetary amounts. AP Stylebook recommends figures with the dollar sign and the Chicago Manual of Style says that references to money should be spelled out for whole numbers of one hundred or less. All of your examples are correct. The best strategy is to be consistent.

Hi Jane –
Working for a University of Medical students and we continue to have an ongoing discussion on the age and how to properly write it out. I have done so much research and feel even more confused, as most research shows both ways and says that it is one’s preference on how to do it. The easier to read is what most say…can you help?

A 20 year-old student was examining…..

A 20-year-old student was examining…..

A twenty year-old student

A twenty-year-old student

Once you reply, is there any site or book that you can refer us to that really shows that one is proper and the other isn’t and that it’s not just a preference…?

Our blog “Hyphens with Numbers” addresses part of your question. The rule states, “When you’re combining two or more words to form a compound adjective in front of a noun, put hyphens between these words.” Regarding whether to write out numbers or use numerals, Rule 1 in our Grammarbook “Writing Numbers” section says, “Spell out single-digit whole numbers. Use numerals for numbers greater than nine.” Rule 2 states, “Be consistent within a category. For example, if you choose numerals because one of the numbers is greater than nine, use numerals for all numbers in that category. If you choose to spell out numbers because one of the numbers is a single digit, spell out all numbers in that category. If you have numbers in different categories, use numerals for one category and spell out the other.”

Therefore, A 20-year-old student is correct.

You are right that not all authorities agree. For example, the Chicago Manual of Style (9.2) says, “In nontechnical contexts, Chicago advises spelling out whole numbers from zero through one hundred and certain round multiples of those numbers.” On the other hand, AP Stylebook says for ages, “Always use figures.” Since you are in the medical field, you may also wish to consult the AMA Manual of Style.

I almost always include an “s” when I say “one years old”. For example, “Her baby is one years old.” My wife is an English teacher and always corrects me, “Her baby is one year old.” However my wife is not a native speaker like me (as I). WhoÂ´s right? Have I been using this term wrong my whole life? I said both ways are correct.

The rule in our “Numbers as Adjectives” blog states, “Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea.” Based on this rule, you would write, “I went on a two-year-and-one-month vacation.” Since this is a bit awkward, you may want to revert to your original sentence, “I went on a 25-month vacation.”

…he continues to be the biggest HERO to his 4 children, Nina-age 15, Nadia-16, Raul III-age-21 and Saul, just 5 years old.

What is the correct way to write the above sentence? It has the number of children (4) or (four), and their respective ages. Should their ages be hyphenated or not? Should the five year old be (5) or (five). I just don’t know where to begin.
Also is it correct to write the ‘five year old’ or the ‘five years old?’

Neither of those sentences is grammatically correct. A college class is often referred to as a course and it would be highly unlikely to take four years to complete. You might say, “I graduated after a four-year program in engineering/history/biology/etc. at X University/College” or “I graduated after a four-year course of study in engineering/history/biology/etc. at X University/College.”

The use of a plus sign after a number to indicate more than is a very informal usage. We have never seen it used as a superscript. A more formal way to express this would be: Our people have over 20 years in the energy business. (It’s unclear from either expression whether this experience is collective or individual.)

What is the correct way to write the age range and use of hyphens in the following sentence where the purpose is to identify if a person is a parent/guardian of a child who is aged between thirteen and seventeen?
Also, should the word “year” be pluralised?

Are you a parent or a legal guardian of a 13-17 years old child?
OR
Are you a parent or a legal guardian of a 13-17-year-old child?

Your sentence could benefit from some rewording because it has two different but similar punctuation marks in close quarters. The first one is an en dash, roughly the width of an n, and is a little longer than a hyphen. It is used for periods of time when you might otherwise use to. The second one is a hyphen, which is used between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea. The sentence looks a little confusing written this way: Are you a parent or a legal guardian of a 13–17-year-old child?
We recommend rewording to:

Are you a parent or legal guardian of a child 13–17 years old? or
Are you a parent or legal guardian of a child 13 to 17 years old?

Rule 4 in our “Writing Numbers” section says, “A mixed fraction can be expressed in figures unless it is the first word of a sentence.” Therefore, you can either write “I’m nine and one-half years old,” or “I’m 9 1/2 years old.” It is common in American spoken English to use the less formal, “I’m nine and a half years old,” but it should not be written that way in spite of Two And A Half Men.

I recently was involved in an argument w/ couple co-workers with the correct
usage of numbers in sentences.
I was informing them what they were doing wasn’t grammatically correct,
however even after reading the rules from the following:https://www.grammarbook.com/contact.asp
I’m sure they will still insist that since there wasn’t a rule against it,
it would be fine.

Is the following grammatically correct?
The two (2) satellites with the traveling wave tubes have been screened and
tested?

I was under the impression having the redundancy of the #2 after spelling it
out was incorrect, please clarify?

Our blog “Writing Numbers as Words” asks the same question and provides a rule of thumb:

Isn’t it unnecessary to have both numerals and words for the same number? For example: “We will need 220 (two hundred twenty) chairs.”

Rule of Thumb: There are two reasons for using both: 1. You are more likely to make an error when typing a numeral than when typing a word AND much less likely to spot the error when proofreading. 2. If your document is dense, has a lot of numbers, or contains large numbers, the numerical form helps your readers scan information quickly.
So by typing a combination of a numeral and a word, you are almost guaranteed accuracy and ease of reading.

Thus, you or your coworkers would need to decide whether your document meets these criteria for required accuracy and ease of reading or not.

Our blog “Numbers as Adjectives” has more information and examples on this topic. Only hyphenate between a number and a measurement unit taken together when they form a compound adjective such as a one-hundred-thirty-one-page report. When measurements are not acting as compound adjectives, hyphens are not needed. Your example is a simple number, therefore, the only hyphen required is in thirty-one.

I couldn’t locate anything in your column about how to refer to time in a fiction novel. Here’s how I’d do it.

It was about six thirty in the evening. NOTE: The reason I don’t hyphenate is that the sentence really means: It was about six hours thirty minutes in the evening. In this case “hours” and “minutes” are understood but not written.

However I would write: She turned thirty-six today. This is because there’s nothing understood between the “thirty and the “six”. Of course “years” is understood after “thirty-six”.

“What time is it?” Pete asked.
John glanced down at his watch. “It’s exactly 6:36 pm.”
“Thanks.”

The blogs (columns) are often expansions on only individual rules contained on our website. Your questions are covered by the rules in the Writing Numbers section of GrammarBook.com. Rule 12 says, in part, “Normally, spell out the time of day in text even with half and quarter hours. Example: She gets up at four thirty before the baby wakes up.” Rule 13 says “Use numerals with the time of day when exact times are being emphasized or when using A.M. or P.M. Example: Monib’s flight leaves at 6:22 A.M.” Rule 15 says “Hyphenate all numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine.”

Many years ago I worked for the Dallas Morning News. This was before I retired to teaching school in later years. I always understood that the word only could convey different things depending on its location in the sentence.

“I only needed five copies of the test.” Since it preceeds the verb I take that to mean that none of the other teachers needed any copies of the test. I only or only I…..I alone needed the copies. However if it had read, I needed only five copies of the test, it would have referred, not to me, but to the number which I needed. Other teachers may have needed other numbers. We
don’t know, but it is a possibility.

You are correct that the placement of the word only in a sentence can convey different subtle or not so subtle meanings. In the case of Pop Quiz question No. 1, we don’t know whether that particular person was speaking just for himself or herself or not. Of course, for our purpose of determining whether to write out the numbers or use numerals, it doesn’t matter.

We do think that the wording “I needed only five copies of the test, not fifty” more clearly conveys that is the number of tests that particular person needed. We are going to change the wording accordingly in the blog.

The rule in our blog Hyphens with Numbers states, “When you’re combining two or more words to form a compound adjective in front of a noun, put hyphens between these words.” Since the measurement is a compound adjective describing the noun slices, use a hyphen.

On wedding invites the year is written out and includes the word “and”, for example Two Thousand and Twelve. This always annoys me when I see it because I don’t believe the “and” is correct. Am I right?

In British English, the year is pronounced two thousand and twelve rather than the American English form two thousand twelve. Americans often consider British English more formal, therefore you will often see British spellings appear in invitations, especially wedding invitations. (By the way, many prefer twenty twelve to the ponderous two thousand and twelve.)

The Chicago Manual of Style’s abbreviation table 10.69 says, “In the following examples, note that the proper symbols for foot and inch are prime (′) and double prime (″), not the single (’) and double (”) quotation mark:
LENGTH
in. or ″ inch
ft. or ′ foot
Therefore, write 5′4″. In Word, find the prime and double prime marks using Insert, Symbol.

Dear Jane,
When do we say each of these:
11 year old
11 years old
11 year olds
cause I have been reading articles and found these three representation of age and got confused.
I really appreciate your time and effort

Great resource. As an editor I pop by here from time to time, rather than pore over my CMOS tome. I thought it would be good to point out, as I did not see it mentioned here, that CMOS recommends that ALL numbers be written out in dialogue or at the start of a sentence. For example: He was born in 1958. But: Nineteen fifty-eight was the year he was born. Or: John said, “He was born in nineteen fifty-eight.”

Our rule of Dashes says, “An en dash, roughly the width of an n, is a little longer than a hyphen. It is used for periods of time when you might otherwise use to…To form an en dash with most PCs, type the first number or word, then hold down the ALT key while typing 0150 on the numerical pad on the right side of your keyboard. Then type the second number or word.” Also, our Rule 8 of Writing Numbers states, “The following examples apply when using dates:
Examples:The meeting is scheduled for June 30.The meeting is scheduled for the 30th of June.”

Therefore, if we understand your intention correctly, we recommend rewording to the following:

February 1–4 are the dates for Father King’s funeral and I am on leave on February 5, 2013.

In formal English, we know of no shorthand way of expressing this. You may write either “a boy who was eleven years and four months old” or “a boy who was 11 years and 4 months old.” Since the age is not being used as an adjective (11-year-old boy), there are no hyphens. However, sometimes certain occupations, academic disciplines, etc. adopt specific terms that are accepted or understood by practitioners within that discipline.

You could write “people 35-50 years old.” Another option is “35- to 50-year-olds.” It is called a suspended hyphen. Or, you could rewrite the sentence in non-adjectival form as people ranging in age from 35 to 50 years old.

Could you please tell me what the correct form of this sentence is?!
In this company, the amount of equity share capital in five years is equal to 7.18 and the highest amount of fixed assets, total assets are presented in 2010-11.

Our Rule 4 of Semicolons says, “Use the semicolon to separate units of a series when one or more of the units contain commas.” Since your series contains commas, and assuming you are referring to money, write “Danny earned $1,987.09; $8,968.09; $8,937.78; and $7,937.21.”

I am learning a lot from you. I would like to ask you what is the best way of writing “I feel like I’m awake 24/7 the past 7 or 8 months now?” Should I write the numerical fraction as 24/7 and spell out 7 or 8, i.e.,

You might want to use numerals for numbers over 100 unless you are writing the first word or words in a sentence (and “163-year-old building” is not likely to start a sentence). Writing “163-year-old building” should be fine.

Do not use an s in these examples. Also, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea. There are varying philosophies regarding writing numbers or using numerals. Find a formula that works for you, and be consistent. Many book publishers would recommend:

a two-year-old child
a ten-minute TV program
a two-hour lesson with a native-tongue teacher
a 250-meter-high building
a 1,500-mile-long river
a 55-ton truck

Hi Jane,
How would you handle this sentence in a nonfiction book, This is not a technical book or an informational book but rather a life story. Should the weight and height be spelled out or left as numerals?

This breed is a rather small dog, weighing between 35 to 40 pounds with a height of 17 to 20 inches.

Should this read “thirty-five to forty pounds with a height of seventeen to twenty inches”?

When using the greater than equal than symbol such as the example below should I keep the symbol followed by the 7 or should it all be spelled out or a combination of the two – symbol plus word seven?

Frequent night time bottle-feeding with milk is associated with, but not consistently implicated in, early childhood caries (ECC). Breastfeeding > 7 times daily after 12 months of age is associated with increased risk for ECC.

Spelling out numbers vs. using figures is largely a matter of writers’ preference. The most important thing is to be consistent. Symbols may be used in lieu of words but it may be more clear for the reader to understand if it is written out.

Some souces indicate that when two numbers are adjacent, spell one out to avoid confusion: He bought three-hundred 3.6 GHz computers.
Would that rule also apply to the 2 in this sentence: On June 14, 2011, 2 days before the event, he filed his application.

Spelling out numbers vs. using figures is largely a matter of writers’ preference and authorities have different approaches and rules. The writer could change the adjacent number if he or she thinks there is cause for misreading the sentence. It is not usual in formal writing to use a numeral instead of “two days before the event.”

Hi, jane
I have problems with sentences like i am 20 years old and i am a 20 year old , are both of these correct, if the first one is correct then is it used in american english only ? or is it also used in the british english.

Our graphic artist tells us that we should use “.75 yards” in our price book instead of “.75 yard”. Is this correct? At what point does “yard” become plural? I say it is when the yardage is greater than 1, but she disagrees.

Hello jane,
Sorry for bothering you again, I have another question, which one of these sentences is correct? : I have no pens or I don’t have any pens. I have always used the second one but I have also heard people say I have no pens, as far as I am able to understand the sentence ; I have no pens should be incorrect as first we are giving affirmation to the second person by saying ‘I have’ then suddenly we add ‘no’ pens to the sentence. Please tell me which one is correct and if both are correct then please help me in understanding the logic behind the first one.

Your a lot of help. I’ve learn so much from you and this site. However, I still have a lot of other questions that I have not been about to find the answer to. So here it goes…

Is this correct:
“I’m a forty-five-year-old male,”?

And if I write out the age, for this person, and later down the story, a few paragraphes, I write another person’s age, do I have to also write it the same manner of style that I choise to write the first person’s age?

Also, what if later downt the story I write it this way:
“I have three kids, my son, David, 16, my daughter, Amy,12, and my youngest child, John, 5.

Do I word out their ages too, since I wrote the first person’s age out first? Also, did I write that sentense out correctly (I already know I have to pick either writing the word or writing in numeral form, which I did)?

“I’m a forty-five-year-old male” is correct. Spelling out numbers vs. using figures is largely a matter of writers’ preference. Consistency is important, however, since you mention the word “story,” we assume you are writing a work of fiction. In writing a work of fiction, you do not necessarily need to write every person’s age in the same manner throughout the entire story. Aurthors of fiction do not always follow strict grammar rules.

Regarding your sentence about the children, the name David is an appositive since it is essential to the noun son because you have more than one son. Therefore, no comma is used. Assuming you only have one daughter, the commas surrounding Amy are correct.

Use a colon to introduce a series of items. Also one of our rules of semicolons states, “Use the semicolon to separate units of a series when one or more of the units contain commas.” Therefore, you could write:
I have three kids: my son David, 16; my daughter, Amy,12; and my youngest child, John, 5. OR
I have three kids: my son David, sixteen; my daughter, Amy, twelve; and my youngest child, John, five.

We recommend using either numerals or spelled out numbers and being consistent.
John just paid $33,000 for his new car. OR
John just paid thirty-three thousand dollars for his new car.
(However, when the number is in the millions, many writers write “$5 million” or “33 million miles from Earth.”)

Spelling out numbers vs. using figures is a matter of preference. The important thing is to be consistent.
The study population ranged from 2 to 65 years of age. OR
The study population ranged from two to sixty-five years of age.

Hi there,
How do I write ‘1700 dollars’ in a legal transcript?
Which – if any – of these are correct?
Seventeen hundred dollars
Seventeen-hundred dollars
17 hundred dollars
1700 dollars
$1700
The very brief instructions state that numbers, in general, over 10 should be written as numerals, not words, so so far I have put it as ’17 hundred dollars’ but I don’t know…this does not look quite right?
Thanks in advance!
Angela

The phrases “80-year-old, soon to be 81-year-old” are two phrasal adjectives requiring a comma to separate them. It is the same as if you wrote, “He is a happy, healthy man.” There should be no comma before the word “man.”

The first two sentences are correct with periods at the end. You could add “years” or “years old” to these sentences to be more specific. The third sentence is a bit awkward but is grammatically correct.

What if the article has larger numbers, and therefore the protocol of using numerical representations instead of spelling out the numbers is chosen, but there is a sentence stating ” 2 or 3 treatments at one-month intervals”?
Should that then read 2 to 3 treatments at 1- month intervals?
Thank you for your assistance.

As we discuss in the eleventh edition of the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, writing numbers is a complex topic, with many exceptions. Even the leading guidebooks for writers, the Associated Press Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style, have different approaches. To us, using numerals for single-digit numbers looks tacky. We recommend that you try spelling out “two or three treatments at one-month intervals” and see if it looks all that jarring with the bigger numerals.

How to write a negative range of numbers? For example, I have to mention power output of a radio, which is -25db to -28db. Knowing the fact that -28db is lower than -25, do I mention this as -28db to -25db or -25db to -28db?

Grammatically speaking, there is no specific rule related to your question. If there is a standard practice in this area, follow it. We have commonly seen a negative range expressed as you have done: -25db to -28db.

Chicago advises spelling out whole numbers from zero through one hundred and certain round multiples of those numbers. Therefore, write twelfth and thirteenth, unless it is a part of a street address, as in “1305 12th Street” (if that is how the city writes it), or part of a date, such as “December 12.”

We have no rules covering this nor have we been able to find any authoritative source covering this particular situation. Since the term would be used in an informal context, it is up to you. Our previous response was for formal writing.

In formal prose we prefer writing either “Friday, the nineteenth of June, two thousand fifteen,” “Friday, the nineteenth of June, twenty fifteen,” “ Friday, June 19, 2015,” or “Friday, the 19th of June, 2015.” However, invitations have their own sets of rules and styles and are not always the same as formal writing. Whether to use punctuation or follow grammar rules is up to you.

Our blog post Hyphens with Numbers has more information on this topic. The term “two-year” or “2-year” is a compound adjective. If you want to write “2 two-year options” or “two 2-year options,” go ahead. (The latter, with a capital T, must be used if it begins a sentence, as per our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers.) But the Associated Press would make it “two two-year options.”

What do you do with number ranges that are a power of 10? For example,
2.2–2.0 × 109 (please read that as “ten to the ninth power”)
Should you repeat the power on each side of the en-dash?
2.2 × 109–2.0 × 109
Should you spell out “to” instead of using the en-dash?
Thanks!

We’re not experts on mathematical notation, so we will answer from a perspective of how these numbers might be expressed most clearly to us. We recommend a hyphen, not a dash, to show number ranges. If you are concerned that a hyphen could be mistaken for a minus sign, then use to. We recommend including the power of 10 with both numbers since omitting it could lead to confusion over what the first number is. Finally, we are more used to seeing ranges expressed from smaller to larger (although your situation may be different). Therefore, we recommend: 2.0×109 to 2.2×109.

Wedding invitation:
“We love children, too, however, no children under
13-years of age can attend this event.”
“We love children, too, however, no children under
13 years of age can attend this event.”
“We love children, too, however, no children under the age of 13 can attend this event.”
Which is correct/preferred?

There is no preferred style for wedding invitations. It is a matter of preference. The following are grammatically correct:
We love children too, however, no children under thirteen years of age can attend this event.
We love children too, however, no children under 13 years of age can attend this event.
We love children too, however, no children under the age of thirteen can attend this event.
We love children too, however, no children under the age of 13 can attend this event.

It is unclear whether the dream was six years old or was the dream of a six-year-old child. Therefore, write either “This dream was the perfect six-year-old dream” or “This dream was the perfect six-year-old’s dream.”

Hi, I am writing a text about a computer system. Can I say “a 15-year-old computer system”? For some reason, the hyphens make it look like I’,m talking about a person rather than an object – or am I wrong?

I’ve just read an article about a ’26 year old couple’. They are both aged 26. To me it means they have been together for 26 years. Is it correct grammar? Would it be less clumsy to write ‘a couple, both aged 26’?

Please help! The phrase cannot be recast or reworded in any way. Trying to get a definitive answer on where the hyphens go. Bob is a 2 year 3 month old child. Is it 2-year-3-month-old child (with hyphens between the entire phrase) or 2-year 3-month-old child (with no hyphen between year and 3, and if so, why?). Thank you!

Hello! I’m trying to figure something out. In manual I’m editing, the writer constantly writes numbers the following way: “If the xxx has four (4) or more employees, …”. I’ve been crossing out the numeral in parenthesis since the number is below 10. I was wondering if this form of writing out numbers is common in manuals/guides and if I should leave them be or if I should continue crossing out the numerals in parenthesis.

Our post Writing Numbers as Both Numerals and Words says, “If your document is dense, has a lot of numbers, or contains large numbers, the numerical form helps your readers scan information quickly. So by typing a combination of a numeral and a word, you are almost guaranteed accuracy and ease of reading.”
Therefore, it’s a matter of judgment.

Hi everybody. I can’t understand how old the queen is in this ironical sentence:
“She’s a hundred and forty seventeen years old”. Is 147? Why seventeen? (It is spoken language).
Thank you so much for the reply.
antonella

The sentences are not correct because there are no periods at the ends. If you are asking about the number 55, as we explain in the post, “There is no global right or wrong, other than to be consistent …”

Hi. Just a question about writing ages. For a fiction novel, I’ve been using the ‘words for less than 10, numerals for 10 and above’ rule for writing numbers so far. Then I came to this piece of dialogue:

“Shay, you are, what, thirteen or fourteen? Fifteen maybe?”

“Fourteen.”

Convention would tell me that the written numbers at the start of the sentences should stay words and not numeric, but the prior rule would suggest that these ages should be numerals because they are greater than 10. Should I keep this dialogue as it is for the sake of consistency, or is it appropriate to change part of it to numerals? To take this idea further, would it be wiser to simply use 100 as the benchmark instead of 10 as it is a fiction work? What do you recommend?

Our Rule 1 of Writing Numbers, “Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence,” should take precedence. After that, be consistent by choosing whether you will follow Associated Press guidance and spell out all numbers less than 10, or follow Chicago Manual of Style guidance and spell out all numbers less than 101. Since it is a work of fiction, we recommend following CMOS.

I have a question about the proper way to display numbers in a sentence when both a date and quantities under 10 are included. In this example below, should five and three be displayed as numerals since that’s the format of the date?

The computer terminals were not delivered until June 12, five weeks after the promised delivery date; and when I wrote to complain to your sales manager, it took another three weeks for him to simply acknowledge my letter.

When writing a dollar amount as an adjective, do you follow the same hyphen rules as with other numbers as adjectives? Example,
He led the execution of a 28-million dollar training budget…
or how about, He led the execution of a $28-million training budget…
Thank you!

I’ve just read a BBC news article. It mentions the ages of three victims from a recent bridge collapse using the classic rule of writing numbers under the value of ten as words instead of numerals. Apart from the terrible tragedy, it reads terribly:

“… Three children, aged eight, 12 and 13 were among the dead.”

Consistency and flow is more important than following arbitrary rules. I don’t understand why this rule exists in the first place.

We’re not thrilled about how that reads either. However, as we note in the article “Deciding whether to write numbers as numerals or as number words is a matter of style.” We would prefer CMOS‘s recommendation, (see the third paragraph) of “consistency ‘in the immediate context,’ ” which would lead us to write “Three children, aged 8, 12, and 13, were among the dead.” Also see our post Numbers: Words or Numerals?

The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 9.17 says, “For expressions including two or more quantities, the abbreviation or symbol is repeated if it is closed up to the number but not if it is separated.”
Therefore, write 10%–20%. (Also note that CMOS recommends using an en dash when signifying “up to and including.”)

I wish to know the proper way to read dates in a textbook while I am recording them. For “June 8, 2012,” I don’t feel it needs to be read as June “eighth” since it is not printed that way and these are textbooks, not social discourses.

There is no rule stating that dates need to be read a certain way. It is not necessary to use the ordinal form when reading a single date or a list of dates. When the date is used in a sentence, the ordinal form might sound better to you depending on the sentence.

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